1 Jul 2020
Ashley Arundale shares her experience of being diagnosed with a neurological condition just as her career journey was about to begin, and why it’s okay to be “different”.
RVN Ashley Arundale.
My name is Ashley and I am a 29-year-old RVN from Leeds, West Yorkshire.
I struggled at school and never felt I had the support I needed to decide what I was good at. This led to me working in a few different fields, including NHS community health and the media. I also have a bachelor degree in nutrition.
My mum always encouraged me to be a VN, but I never felt I was good enough – or strong enough – to be one. I have always loved animals; even the three-year-old me would say “I will not eat anything with a face”, and I used to be the one saving worms and snails from pavements.
At the age of 25, I took my mum’s advice (always listen to mum) and made the move into the veterinary world. I was so scared, but it’s the best decision I could have made for myself – and for what my future had in store.
I started at Holly House Vets in 2015 as a VN, then, in January 2016, I was diagnosed with the relapsing form of multiple sclerosis (MS). It’s a neurological condition that comes with many challenges. At 29, I never thought I’d be wondering how soon I might need a wheelchair. I live most days with debilitating symptoms like pain, vision problems and extreme fatigue, which make life increasingly difficult.
For this diagnosis to come at the very start of my training it left me with a big decision – do I continue on this path or am I making a huge mistake?
With the support and dedication of my manager, Amy Martin, and the encouragement I received from my tutors at Myerscough College, I completed my course – and cannot thank those people enough.
After qualifying, I continued as “normal” for a year or so before I started to struggle with the shift patterns and difficulties with my mobility. Amy and I had a long chat, and she organised an occupational health review to ensure the practice could support me.
Reasonable adjustments were put in place and the nature of my work has changed. I now work 50/50 clinical and administrative duties and, taking charge of our referral service Ark Referrals, I still feel like a valued team member.
I have suffered with mental health issues at various times in my life, and MS is an exasperating factor for my mental well-being. While I feel very privileged for a number of reasons, and recognise the factors in my life that have meant my experiences have been better than many others in worse off positions, I now know what it means to feel intensely and unfairly conscious about something you cannot change.
MS is invisible, so I often feel judged or worry people think I am lazy because they can’t see the truth. That’s partly why I speak out about it and try to champion other important subjects at work, such as mental well-being, anti-racism and feminism.
I am the “Wellbeing Champion” alongside Amy and we deliver Schwartz Rounds – a reflective group forum – to the team. I also attended the annual RCVS Day last year, to which I was invited by Niall Connell – the RCVS president and fellow “MSer”, who is a passionate champion for diversity and inclusion in the sector.
It is important that we strive to be inclusive and celebrate diversity – and take the necessary actions to achieve this. We need to talk to each other, discuss issues and concerns openly, support our colleagues and ensure no one feels isolated. It’s okay to be your whole self; it’s okay to be “different”.
Veterinary careers should be available to everyone, no matter what ethnicity, socio-economic background, gender, sexual orientation, religion or disability. Only then can we be confident that we have the strongest and most passionate workforce to care for people and animals relying on us.
